Method and apparatus for forming pilings and anchors

ABSTRACT

Pile forming includes providing an anchor having a shaft with a major axis, a bit fixed at one end, and a stop releasably coupled to the shaft. A casing having a major axis, is co-axially aligned with the major axis of the shaft, between the bit and the stop. A centralizer maintains separation between the shaft and casing, creating a region therebetween. The anchor is placed in soil, ground or substrate, the shaft turned and pressure applied to advance the anchor, forcing material out of a region surrounding the shaft. The stop is decoupled from the shaft. The shaft is continually turned and pressure applied to further advance the anchor. A fluid grout is flowed into said region surrounding the shaft and into the region between shaft and the casing. The turning and application of pressure are stopped, and the fluid grout allowed to solidify.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/505,266, filed Jul. 7, 2011,which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for formingpilings and anchors in poor soil and earth conditions.

2. Description of the Related Art

FIG. 1 shows an apparatus for forming piles 1 according to the priorart. FIG. 1 shows anchor 10 comprised of shaft 12 and bit 14 located atone end of shaft 12 disposed into soil, ground or other substrate 16.The shaft 12 is fluidly communicatively coupled to a fluid groutreservoir 18 to receive a fluid grout therefrom. An action of the bithas removed soil or other material from a region 20 that surrounds shaft12.

FIG. 2 shows that shaft 12 has a hollow interior 12 a. Hollow interior12 a is adapted to flow fluid grout from the fluid grout reservoir 18through the shaft to the bit 14.

FIG. 3 shows that bit 14 has a hollow interior 14 a for flowing fluidgrout from fluid grout bath 18 to bit 14.

As best illustrated in FIG. 1, the bit 14 has outlets 14 b for flowingfluid grout from the bit 14 to into a cavity created by practicing amethod for forming piles in situ, as generally described in thebackground section of U.S. Pat. No. 5,707,180.

The method of forming a pile in the prior art comprises the successiveacts of providing anchor 10 comprising shaft 12 having bit 14 at one endof thereof, placing bit 14 in soil, turning shaft 12, and applyingpressure to shaft 12 generally in the direction of the major axis ofshaft 12 thereby forcing anchor 10 into soil, ground or other substrate16 (the drilling direction) and thereby forcing soil, ground or othersubstrate material 16 out of a region 20 surrounding shaft 12. Shaft 12may be comprised of a plurality of subshafts coupled together by acoupler, 12 b (FIG. 1). Said turning and application of pressure foradvancing or urging anchor 10 into soil, ground or other substrate 16may be by rotary or rotary percussion, as is known by a person ofordinary skill in the art. The method of forming a pile in the prior artfurther comprises the acts of providing a fluid grout reservoir 18 andflowing fluid grout through the hollow interior 12 a of shaft 12 intoregion 20 via hollow interior 14 a of bit 14 and outlets 14 b of bit 14.As more fluid grout is flowed into region 20, region 20 is filled upwith fluid grout until fluid grout fills region 20 such that fluid groutflows out of region 20 and above the surface of soil, ground or othersubstrate 16. Fluid grout reservoir 18 may include a pump (not shown) toactively flow fluid grout under pressure.

When anchor 10 is located sufficiently deep within soil, ground or othersubstrate 16, and when region 20 is filled up with fluid grout untilfluid grout fills region 20 such that fluid grout flows out of region 20and above the surface of soil, ground or other substrate 16, drillingmay cease and fluid grout may be permitted to solidify to generallyencapsulate anchor 10. Bit 14 is therefore a sacrificial bit in that itis not retrieved from anchor 10 before it is generally encapsulated bythe solidified fluid grout. The solidified fluid grout increases thestructural integrity of anchor 10 and helps prevent anchor 10 frombending or buckling under compression and increases the structuralintegrity of anchor 10 within soil, ground or other substrate 16 underboth tension and compression.

However, where soil or ground 16 is poor quality (e.g., soft, porous orcontains voids), region 20 will not be sufficiently contained or bound.Consequently, in the prior art method described above, fluid grout maytraverse away from shaft 12 and may not fill region 20 and may not flowout of region 20 and above the surface of soil, ground or othersubstrate 16. When this occurs, the structural integrity of anchor 10under both compression and tension is unknown and compromised. Forexample, without a generally encapsulating solidified grout, anchor 10is in a void or in direct contact with poor soil and may be more proneto bending or buckling. Without generally encapsulating anchor 10 withsolidified fluid grout, the bond strength of shaft 12 with soil, groundor other substrate 16 may be compromised thus reducing the strength ofanchor 10 in compression or tension.

BRIEF SUMMARY

A method for forming pile may be summarized as including providing ananchor comprising a shaft; providing a bit fixed at one end of saidshaft; providing a casing about said shaft; releasably coupling saidcasing to said shaft; placing said anchor in soil; motivating said shaftto advance said anchor into said soil to force said soil out of a regionsurrounding said shaft; decoupling said casing from said shaft; andcontinuing to motivate said shaft to continue to provide said anchorinto the soil.

The method for forming pile may further include providing a reservoir ofa fluid grout; and allowing said fluid grout from said reservoir offluid grout to flow into said region surrounding said shaft, andallowing said fluid grout to solidify. Allowing said fluid grout fromsaid reservoir of fluid grout to flow into said region surrounding saidshaft may include forcing said fluid grout through a tubular passage insaid shaft, through an outlet port in said shaft in the regionsurrounding said shaft. Allowing said fluid grout from said reservoir offluid grout to flow into said region surrounding said shaft may includeforcing said fluid grout through a tubular passage in said shaft andinto a cavity in said bit and through an at least one outlet port insaid bit in the region surrounding said shaft. Motivating said shaft mayinclude turning said shaft. Motivating said shaft may include applyingpressure to said shaft. Said shaft may have a major axis along thelength of said shaft and wherein said casing may have a major axis alongthe length of said casing. Said casing may be provided about said shaftgenerally coaxial with the major axis of said shaft. Said bit may beadapted to engage said casing to maintain space between said shaft andsaid casing.

The method for forming pile may further include providing a centralizerdisposed between said bit and said casing, said centralizer beingadapted to maintain space between said shaft and said casing. Saidcentralizer may be fixed to said shaft.

A method for forming pile may be summarized as including providing ananchor comprising a shaft having a major axis along a length of saidshaft, a bit fixed at one end of said shaft, and a stop releasablycoupled to said shaft; providing a casing having a major axis along alength of said casing; disposing said major axis of said casingco-axially with the major axis of said shaft and between said bit andsaid stop; maintaining a separation between shaft and casing to create afirst region between said shaft and said casing; placing said anchor insoil; turning said shaft while applying pressure to said shaft to urgesaid anchor into said soil thereby forcing a portion of said soil out ofa second region surrounding said shaft; decoupling said stop from saidshaft; continuing to turn said shaft while continuing to apply pressureto said shaft to continue to urge said anchor into the soil; flowingfluid grout into said second region surrounding said shaft andpermitting said fluid grout to flow into said first region between saidshaft and said casing; ceasing to turn said shaft and ceasing to applypressure; and allowing said fluid grout to solidify.

Maintaining a separation between shaft and casing may include providinga centralizer therebetween.

An apparatus to form piles may be summarized as including an anchorcomprising a shaft; a casing having a passage therethrough into which atleast a portion of the shaft is received to form a region between theportion of the shaft and casing to fluidly receive a fluid grouttherethrough, the casing releasably coupled to the shaft at least fortranslation therewith while coupled; a bit fixed at a distal end of saidshaft, the bit having a cavity and at least one outlet port to providefluid communication between the cavity and an exterior of the bit, thecavity in fluid communication with the region between the portion of theshaft and the casing to fluidly communicate the fluid grout from theregion between the portion of the shaft and the casing to the exteriorof the bit.

The apparatus to form piles may further include a selectively detachablecoupler that selectively detachably couples the casing to the shaft.

The apparatus to form piles may further include a centralizer coupled tothe shaft and the casing to maintain a separation therebetween. At leastone of the bit or the casing may include a lip that maintains aseparation between the shaft and the casing.

The apparatus to form piles may further include a stop disposed at thedistal end of the shaft, the stop releasably fixed to the shaft andwhich prevents a retreat of the casing along the shaft in a directionopposite a direction in which the bit and the shaft advance duringdrilling.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In the drawings, identical reference numbers identify similar elementsor acts. The sizes and relative positions of elements in the drawingsare not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the shapes of variouselements and angles are not drawn to scale, and some of these elementsare arbitrarily enlarged and positioned to improve drawing legibility.Further, the particular shapes of the elements as drawn, are notintended to convey any information regarding the actual shape of theparticular elements, and have been solely selected for ease ofrecognition in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a portion of an apparatus forforming piles inserted into soil, ground or some other substrate,according to the prior art.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of a shaft of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of a bit of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a portion of an apparatus forforming piles, according one illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 5A is a side elevational view of the portion of the apparatus forforming piles of FIG. 4 inserted into soil, ground or some othersubstrate, according to one illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 5B is a side elevational view of the portion of the apparatus forforming piles of FIGS. 4 and 5A, illustrating a cavity formed in thesoil, ground or other substrate, according one illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 5C is a side elevational view of the portion of the apparatus forforming piles of FIGS. 4, 5A and 5B, following further drilling thanrepresented in FIG. 5B, according one illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 5D is a side elevational view of the portion of the apparatus forforming piles of FIGS. 4, 5A, 5B and 5C, following even further drillingthan represented in FIG. 5C, according one illustrated embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

In the following description, certain specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of various disclosedembodiments. However, one skilled in the relevant art will recognizethat embodiments may be practiced without one or more of these specificdetails, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In otherinstances, well-known structures associated with pilings such as piledrivers, motors, compressors, etc., and methods for installing pilingshave not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring descriptions of the embodiments.

Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification andclaims which follow, the word “comprise” and variations thereof, suchas, “comprises” and “comprising” are to be construed in an open,inclusive sense, that is as “including, but not limited to.”

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or“in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification arenot necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, theparticular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined inany suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singularforms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the contentclearly dictates otherwise. It should also be noted that the term “or”is generally employed in its sense including “and/or” unless the contentclearly dictates otherwise.

The headings and Abstract of the Disclosure provided herein are forconvenience only and do not interpret the scope or meaning of theembodiments.

FIG. 4 shows a portion of an apparatus for forming piles 1, accordingone embodiment. The apparatus for forming piles 1 comprises anchor 10comprised of shaft 12 and bit 14 located at a distal end of shaft 12.The anchor 10 is disposed or positioned into soil, ground or some otherdrillable substrate 16. Anchor 10, and particularly shaft 12 is fluidlycommunicatively coupled to a fluid grout reservoir 18. A stop 22 isdisposed at one end of shaft 12. Casing 24 is provided coaxially withshaft 12 between bit 14 and stop 22. Stop 22 is releasably fixed toshaft 12 and is adapted to prevent the movement of casing 24 along themajor axis of shaft 12 in the direction opposite of the drillingdirection. Centralizer 28 is disposed between bit 14 and casing 24 tomaintain casing 24 generally coaxial with shaft 12 and to maintainseparation between casing 24 and bit 14. In FIG. 4 (and subsequentfigures), casing 24 is shown in cross-section to better illustrate shaft12, coupler 12 b and centralizer 28.

Anchor 10 is rotated about its major axis and pressure is applied alongthe major axis to advance or urge the anchor into soil, ground or othersubstrate 16. FIG. 5A shows the portion of the apparatus for formingpiles 1 after a portion of drilling has occurred. As illustrated in FIG.5A, anchor 10 has been advanced into soil, ground or other substrate 16.Casing 24 has been advanced into soil, ground or other substrate 16along with anchor 10 by stop 22 which is releasably coupled to shaft 12.Centralizer 28 maintains separation between casing 24 and shaft 12 andbetween casing 24 and bit 14. Fluid grout provided from fluid groutreservoir (not shown) emerges from fluid outlets 14 b in bit 14 willenter region 20, and may eventually emerge from region 20 above thesurface of soil, ground or other substrate 16.

FIG. 5B shows the portion of the apparatus for forming piles 1 afterfurther drilling has occurred relative to that illustrated in FIG. 5A.As illustrated in FIG. 5B, anchor 10 has been advanced or urged furtherinto soil, ground or other substrate 16. Casing 24 has been furtheradvanced into soil, ground or other substrate 16 along with anchor 10 bystop 22, which is releasably coupled to shaft 12. A void 26 in soil,ground or other substrate 16 has been encountered by anchor 10 andcasing 22 and anchor 10 and casing 22 have been advanced into void 26.At this point, fluid grout emerging from fluid outlets 14 b in bit 14enters void 26 and may cease to emerge from region 20 above the surfaceof soil, ground or other substrate 16 as fluid grout enters void 26 andis translated away from region 20.

FIG. 5C shows the portion of the apparatus for forming piles 1 aftereven further drilling has occurred relative to that illustrated in FIG.5B. As illustrated in FIG. 5C, anchor 10 has been advanced even furtherinto soil 16, ground or other substrate. Casing 24 has also beenadvanced even further into soil, ground or other substrate 16 along withanchor 10 by stop 22, which is releasably coupled to shaft 12. Bit 14and casing 24 have been advanced beyond void 26 and further into soil,ground or other substrate 16 b. Once void 26 has been traversed byanchor 10 and casing 24, stop 22 may be released and decoupled fromshaft 12 to allow anchor 10 to continue to be advanced even further intosoil, ground or other substrate 16 b. However, with stop 22 releasedfrom shaft 12, casing 24 will cease to be advanced along with anchor 10and remain in place. Centralizer 28 may preferably be disengaged fromcasing 24 and advanced with the shaft 12 and bit 14 under influence ofcoupler 12 b. Alternatively, centralizer 28 may remain with casing 24.

FIG. 5D shows the portion of the apparatus for forming piles 1 after yeteven further drilling has occurred relative to that illustrated in FIG.5C. As illustrated in FIG. 5D, anchor 10 has been advanced yet evenfurther into soil, ground or other substrate 16 b. Casing 24 hasremained in place after stop 22 has been released from shaft 12. Fluidgrout is now flowed under pressure from fluid grout reservoir (not shownin FIG. 5D), which may include a pump (not shown). The fluid grout isflowed in region 20 b, the region or volume around anchor 10 below void26 in soil, ground or other substrate 16 b. As fluid grout is flowedinto region 20 b, the fluid grout will fill region 20 b and flow intothe interior of casing 24 to the surface of soil, ground or othersubstrate 16 bridging void 26.

Anchor 10 may continue to be drilled into soil, ground or othersubstrate 16 b. Soil, ground or other substrate 16 b may be of apreferred quality over soil, ground or other substrate 16 in that it maybe less porous, or contain fewer voids. Region 20 b in soil, ground orother substrate 16 b may sufficiently bound such that fluid grout flowedfrom bit 14 may not traverse out of region 20 b, but rather flow upthrough casing 24 which has remained in place after stop 22 wasdisengaged from shaft 12. Once anchor 10 achieves its desired depth,fluid grout may continue to be flowed until fluid grout reaches thesurface of soil, ground or other substrate 16 after which fluid groutmay be allowed to solidify and substantially encase anchor 10.

Centralizer 28 may protect casing 24 from bit 14 which is aggressivelyrotating and hammering. That is, centralizer 28 may prevent contactbetween the rotating and hammering bit 14 and casing 24. This may beparticularly advantageous where casing is made of a material such as PVCor plastic pipe that may be damaged if placed into contact with therotating and hammering bit 14. Centralizer 28 may also help preventcasing 24 from being contaminated or plugged with unwanted materialsduring its installation in the method described herein, until such timeas stop 22 is disengaged and centralizer 28 separates from casing 24under influence from coupler 12 b. Centralizer 28 also maintainsseparation between casing 24 and shaft 12 and helps to achieveuniformity in the encapsulation of shaft 12 with fluid grout.

In one embodiment, anchor 10 may be motivated into soil, ground or othersubstrate 16 with water as the flushing medium to assist in the flushingof soil, ground or other substrate material from a region around shaft12. Stop 22 may be released from shaft 12 and centralizer 28 may bedisengaged from the casing 24 by coupler 12. At that time fluid groutmay be pumped through shaft 12 via the hollow interior 12 a to bit 14where it is motivated to the region surrounding bit 14 via ports 14 a.Fluid grout may then naturally follow the path of least resistance whichis through the space, region or volume between casing 24 and shaft 12 tothe surface.

In another embodiment, bit 14 may be adapted with a lip or series ofprotrusions or other registration elements which may fit within oroutside casing 22, or both to ensure that casing 24 is maintainedgenerally coaxial with shaft 12 to, replace the function of centralizer28.

In another embodiment, casing 24 may be adapted with a lip or series ofprotrusions or other registration elements which may fit within oroutside bit 14, or both to ensure that casing 24 is maintained generallycoaxial with shaft 12, to replace the function of centralizer 28.

In another embodiment, casing 24 may be adapted to be releasably coupledto shaft 12 in place of stop 22.

In another embodiment, shaft 12 may be adapted to be releasably coupledto casing 24 in place of stop 22.

Anchor 10 may be of a form provided by Contech Systems Ltd. of 8150River Road, Delta British Columbia, Canada. Shaft 12 may be comprised ofplastic, metal or other material suitable to a person of ordinary skillin the art for a particular application. Shaft 12 may comprise a singleelement or may be comprised of multiple lengths of shaft coupledtogether via coupler 12 b. Coupler 12 b may constitute a protrusionalong shaft 12 and may serve to cause centralizer 28 to be separatedfrom casing 24 after casing 24 has been decoupled from shaft 12 via therelease of stop 22 and decoupling of stop 22 from shaft 12, as seen inFIG. 5D.

Pressure and turning applied to anchor 10 to promote, advance or urgeanchor 10 into soil, ground or other substrate may be continuous or maybe in a rotary or rotary percussion like fashion as is known to a personof ordinary skill in the art.

Casing 24 may be made of plastic, metal or other material suitable to aperson of ordinary skill in the art for a particular application. Casing24 may be comprised of a single element or may be comprised of multiplelengths of casing coupled together in a manner known by a person ofordinary skill in the art, depending on the nature of the material usedfor casing 24. Casing 24 is shown in the Figures as a single element butthe Figures should not be interpreted as limiting the generality of thedisclosure.

The above description of illustrated embodiments, including what isdescribed in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limitthe embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. Although specificembodiments of and examples are described herein for illustrativepurposes, various equivalent modifications can be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the disclosure, as will be recognized bythose skilled in the relevant art. The teachings provided herein of thevarious embodiments can be applied to other apparatus for formingpilings and method of forming pilings, not necessarily the exemplarymethods and apparatus generally described above. For example, thevarious embodiments described above can be combined to provide furtherembodiments.

These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of theabove-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, theterms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specificembodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should beconstrued to include all possible embodiments along with the full scopeof equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, theclaims are not limited by the disclosure.

1. A method for forming pile, the method comprising: providing an anchorcomprising a shaft; providing a bit fixed at one end of said shaft;providing a casing about said shaft; releasably coupling said casing tosaid shaft; placing said anchor in soil; motivating said shaft toadvance said anchor into said soil to force said soil out of a regionsurrounding said shaft; decoupling said casing from said shaft; andcontinuing to motivate said shaft to continue to provide said anchorinto the soil.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: providing areservoir of a fluid grout; and allowing said fluid grout from saidreservoir of fluid grout to flow into said region surrounding saidshaft, and allowing said fluid grout to solidify.
 3. The method of claim2 wherein allowing said fluid grout from said reservoir of fluid groutto flow into said region surrounding said shaft comprises forcing saidfluid grout through a tubular passage in said shaft, through an outletport in said shaft in the region surrounding said shaft.
 4. The methodof claim 2 wherein allowing said fluid grout from said reservoir offluid grout to flow into said region surrounding said shaft comprisesforcing said fluid grout through a tubular passage in said shaft andinto a cavity in said bit and through an at least one outlet port insaid bit in the region surrounding said shaft.
 5. The method of claim 1wherein motivating said shaft comprises turning said shaft.
 6. Themethod of claim 1 wherein motivating said shaft comprises applyingpressure to said shaft.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein said shaft hasa major axis along the length of said shaft and wherein said casing hasa major axis along the length of said casing.
 8. The method of claim 7wherein said casing is provided about said shaft generally coaxial withthe major axis of said shaft.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein said bitis adapted to engage said casing to maintain space between said shaftand said casing.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:providing a centralizer disposed between said bit and said casing, saidcentralizer being adapted to maintain space between said shaft and saidcasing.
 11. The method of claim 11 wherein said centralizer is fixed tosaid shaft.
 12. A method for forming pile, the method comprising thesteps of: providing an anchor comprising a shaft having a major axisalong a length of said shaft, a bit fixed at one end of said shaft, anda stop releasably coupled to said shaft; providing a casing having amajor axis along a length of said casing; disposing said major axis ofsaid casing co-axially with the major axis of said shaft and betweensaid bit and said stop; maintaining a separation between shaft andcasing to create a first region between said shaft and said casing;placing said anchor in soil; turning said shaft while applying pressureto said shaft to urge said anchor into said soil thereby forcing aportion of said soil out of a second region surrounding said shaft;decoupling said stop from said shaft; continuing to turn said shaftwhile continuing to apply pressure to said shaft to continue to urgesaid anchor into the soil; flowing fluid grout into said second regionsurrounding said shaft and permitting said fluid grout to flow into saidfirst region between said shaft and said casing; ceasing to turn saidshaft and ceasing to apply pressure; and allowing said fluid grout tosolidify.
 13. The method of claim 13 wherein maintaining a separationbetween shaft and casing includes providing a centralizer therebetween.14. An apparatus to form piles, comprising: an anchor comprising ashaft; a casing having a passage therethrough into which at least aportion of the shaft is received to form a region between the portion ofthe shaft and casing to fluidly receive a fluid grout therethrough, thecasing releasably coupled to the shaft at least for translationtherewith while coupled; a bit fixed at a distal end of said shaft, thebit having a cavity and at least one outlet port to provide fluidcommunication between the cavity and an exterior of the bit, the cavityin fluid communication with the region between the portion of the shaftand the casing to fluidly communicate the fluid grout from the regionbetween the portion of the shaft and the casing to the exterior of thebit.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising: a selectivelydetachable coupler that selectively detachably couples the casing to theshaft.
 16. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising: a centralizercoupled to the shaft and the casing to maintain a separationtherebetween.
 17. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein at least one of thebit or the casing includes a lip that maintains a separation between theshaft and the casing.
 18. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising:a stop disposed at the distal end of the shaft, the stop releasablyfixed to the shaft and which prevents a retreat of the casing along theshaft in a direction opposite a direction in which the bit and the shaftadvance during drilling.